US News significantly changes this year's methodology

Last year, several prominent medical schools said they would no longer participate in U.S. News' annual rankings. Some of the schools that removed themselves from the rankings include Harvard University, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Stanford University.

In response to the criticism, U.S. News developed new methodology for the 2023 medical school rankings, which included an evaluation of faculty resources, academic achievements from entering students, and research productivity.

This year, U.S. News revealed further changes to its methodology. Notably, the best medical schools for research and primary care were sorted into four tiers instead of ordinal rankings like they had been previously.

• Tier 1, which included schools with overall scores of 85–99
• Tier 2, which included schools with overall scores of 50–84
• Tier 3, which included schools with overall scores of 15–49
• Tier 4, which included schools with overall scores of 1–14

In addition, medical schools that opted to not submit data to U.S. News were unranked. Overall, there were 102 medical and osteopathic schools with eligible data for the research ratings and 99 schools for the primary care ratings.

"Compared with the previous edition of the rankings, 80% of the top 100 schools in both research and primary care were assessed, while the remaining 20% that declined to participate in the statistical survey were labeled as unranked," U.S. News said. "… U.S. News strongly believes in improving medical school data transparency, both by encouraging schools to report data to U.S. News as well as making more information publicly available on their websites. Altogether, more data is better for everyone."

Methodology for research ratings

For the research ratings, U.S. News assessed each school's performance based on the following indicators:

• Research activity, which includes total federal research activity, total federal research activity per faculty member, total NIH grants at the school and its affiliated hospitals, and average NIH research grants per faculty. This indicator makes up 60% of a school's research score, up from 45%.
• Student selectivity, which includes median MCAT score, median undergraduate GPA, and acceptance rate. This indicator makes up 20% of a school's score, up from 15%.
• Faculty resources, which includes the ratio of full-time faculty to full-time students in 2023. This indicator makes up 20% of a school's score, up from 15%.

Tier 1 medical schools for research

According to U.S. News, the tier 1 medical schools for research are:

• Baylor College of Medicine
• Case Western Reserve University
• Emory University
• Hofstra University/Northwell Health (Zucker)
• Mayo Clinic School of Medicine (Alix)
• Northwestern University (Feinberg)
• Ohio State University
• University of California, Los Angeles (Geffen)
• University of California, San DiegoUniversity of California, San Francisco
• University of Cincinnati
• University of Colorado
• University of Pittsburgh
• University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• Vanderbilt University
• Yale University

Methodology for primary care ratings

For the primary care ratings, U.S. News assessed each school's performance based on the following indicators:

• Primary care production, which includes medical school graduates practicing in primary care specialties and graduates entering primary care residencies. This indicator makes up 60% of a school's score, up from 50%.
• Student selectivity, which includes median MCAT score, median undergraduate GPA, and acceptance rate. This indicator makes up 30% of a school's score, up from 15%.
• Faculty resources, which includes the ratio of full-time faculty to full-time students in 2023. This indicator makes up 10% of a school's score.

Tier 1 medical schools for primary care

According to U.S. News, the tier 1 medical schools for primary care are:

• East Carolina University (Brody)
• Saint Louis University
• Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
• University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
• University of California, Davis
• University of California, San Francisco
• University of Hawaii, Manoa (Burns)
• University of Kansas Medical Center
• University of Maryland
• University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
• University of Minnesota
• University of Nebraska Medical Center
• University of New Mexico
• University of North Texas Health Science Center
• Western University of Health Sciences

The best medical schools in different areas

Previously, U.S. News ranked the best medical schools for different specialties, but these rankings were discontinued since they were part of peer assessment surveys that are no longer used.

Instead, U.S. News ranked the best medical schools in different areas, including:

• Most diverse medical school: Morehouse School of Medicine
• Most graduates practicing in health professional shortage areas: Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Most graduates practicing in primary care: Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine
•   Most graduates practicing in rural areas:  A.T. Still University of Health Sciences, Kirksville

(U.S. News & World Report "Best Medical Schools," accessed 7/24; Morse/Brooks, U.S. News & World Report, 7/22; Henderson, MedPage Today, 7/23)

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